US Krag Jorgensen Rifle

The US Army’s first smokeless powder rifle was a Norwegian design, developed by Colonel Ole H.J. Krag of the Kongsberg Armory, and Erik Jorgensen, an armorer there. Beginning in 1892, the American Krag would serve in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection and elsewhere. Although replaced in 1903, it would serve during WWI with stateside training units and with some railway troops in France.

The Krag is most notable for its side fed magazine. A trap door opens on the side to form a feed tray for five cartridges to be individually dropped into. There is a magazine cut-off that allows the magazine to be held in reserve while the rifle is loaded from an open bolt. The magazine could be topped off at any time, unlike the charger or en-block clip systems adopted by other nations. The downside of the Krag was its slower loading speed, and the awkwardness of loading it under combat conditions, which became evident when facing the Spanish armed with Mausers.

Thousands of Krags were sold off in the 1920s and 30s and became “sporterized” into hunting rifles. My Krag is one of them, and bringing it back to its military configuration has been an on-and-off project of mine since high school. As a teenager I saw an ugly, badly sporterized, carbine length Krag in a pawn shop for under $30, and imagined that I would restore it. I used mom’s iron and one of her facecloths to steam out the lightly scribed hand checkering someone did to the stock. I ordered parts from the old Numrich mail order catalogue, only to find that the curved butt plate wouldn’t fit because someone cut about an inch off the stock to fit the then crumbling rubber recoil pad. I went so far as to get a piece of walnut to replace the missing wood, but carving it to fit was beyond my skills.

Then in my late 20s, I found an original Krag carbine stock and got nearly the whole thing done until I realized the barrel had been cut down and a ’03 style front sight attached. My carbine had started life as a rifle! Although now a fair representation of what the carbine looked like, that front sight continued to mock me from the gun cabinet. I knew it was only a faux carbine!

In my 40s, I saw another badly abused sporterized Krag at a gun show for $38 – but with a full length rifle barrel! The project was back on, and now with the internet, I had no problem finding a Krag rifle stock. In looking for a cheap one, I found one that had been cut in half at the forestock. I’ve heard of captured Mausers cut this way to fit in duffle bags to be brought back as souvenirs, and I wonder if someone smuggled an unaccounted for Krag back home. The hand guard was also mangled, with the area around the rear sight carved away to fit something else, possibly a scope. I mixed resin to match the wood color and molded it to recreate the missing wood on the hand guard and hide the stock cut.

All parts on this rifle are original Krag parts. This is the 1898 Model Krag, although the barrel is from a Model 1896. The stock cartouche says 1899 and the serial number indicates the receiver was made in 1903, but I can live with that. The sling is a model 1887, correct for this rifle and a forerunner of the famous Model 1907 sling favored by many shooters today. A compartment in the stock holds a three piece steel cleaning rod and nickel plated oiler, also original Krag accessories.

Ammo: The original .30-40 Krag round was a 220 grain round nose bullet in .30 caliber backed with 40 grains of smokeless powder (hence “.30-40”) that had a velocity of 2000 fps. I’ve got a close match using a 220 grain Hornady RN with 36.2 grains of IMR 8495. I got 3 ½” groups at 100 yards from a rest and clocked a velocity of 1955 fps. Close ‘nuff.

WARNING: Load data is provided for information only. Many vintage firearms are unsafe to shoot and I do not advise use of this load data for other firearms since I do not know the specific firearm that may be involved or its condition.